The Detention Center
No county-run jail — Dodge County boards its prisoners at the Olmsted County Jail
- Operated byNot applicable (Dodge County); Olmsted County Sheriff's Office operates the facility Dodge County uses
- No facility listed on MN DOC's Adult Facilities Inspection Reports pageConfirmed by direct review of that page's content for 'Dodge': no report is listed for Dodge County
- County departments listThe county's own Departments page names Administration, County Attorney, Court Administration, Court Services/Probation, Drug Court, Economic Development Authority, Emergency Management, Environmental Services, Extension, Fairview Care Center, Highway Department, Human Services, Land Records, Public Health, Sheriff's Office, Soil & Water Conservation District, Veteran Services, Victim Services, and Women's Shelter — no jail or detention department
- What was triedThe commissioners board page, a jail-boarding contract/rate document, and a bail/bond guidance page were not located within the search budget.
- Also sourced toDodge County Departments — https://dodgecountymn.gov/departments/index.php
- Also sourced toMN DOC — Adult Facilities Inspection Reports index (no Dodge County entry) — https://mn.gov/doc/about/office-inspector-general/inspection-enforcement-licensing/adult-facilities/adult-facilities-inspection-reports/adultreports.jsp
Source: Dodge County Sheriff's Office · checked 2026-09-18
Transparency rating
2/10Closed- ✓The jail is named
- ✓Who is in custody
- ✗Beds and daily population — not published
- ✗What it costs taxpayers — not published
- ✗Deaths in custody — not published
- ✗PREA audits — not published
- ✗Independent inspection — not published
- ✗Who else it holds, and for how much — not published
- ✗How to post bond — not published
- ✗Phone, video and commissary rates — not published
The Building
You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.
- Year builtNot applicable — Dodge County operates no jail of its own
- Original costNot applicable
- Paid for byNot applicable
- BedsNot applicable — see jail.name; prisoners are boarded at the Olmsted County Jail
Since then
- Not applicable
The Sheriff
Sheriff Scott Rose
- Runs a jailNo — Dodge County has no facility on the MN DOC's Adult Facilities Inspection Reports index, and the county's own Sheriff's Office page confirms Dodge County does not operate its own jail
- Where its prisoners goThe Sheriff's Office page's 'In Custody' link routes to the Olmsted County detainee-lookup system, indicating Dodge County boards its arrestees at the Olmsted County Jail (Rochester, MN)
- How the office is filledElected countywide to a four-year term under Minn. Stat. 382.01 (MN state layer); the county's own site states Rose is 'the 26th Sheriff of Dodge County,' elected November 2014
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Dodge County Sheriff's Office · checked 2026-09-18
The Judges
Minnesota district judges are elected on a nonpartisan ballot to six-year terms, but most first reach the bench by gubernatorial appointment to a mid-term vacancy. Bail at first appearance is set by the court under Minn. R. Crim. P. 6.02.
Minnesota District Court (judicial district covering Dodge County)
- Not found
- The county's bond schedule
- Share of the jail population held pretrial
- Median time from booking to first appearance
Source: the state judiciary · checked 2026-09-18
The County Commissioners
They pay for the jail. The sheriff runs it.
- What they controlThe detention budget, the building itself, and the agreements that let other agencies rent its beds.
- What they don'tDay-to-day operations. The sheriff is separately elected and answers to voters, not to the board.
- The boardBoard of County Commissioners
Notes on the record
- 'named' and 'roster' scored 'yes' because the county's own Sheriff's Office page names the boarding arrangement and links directly to the Olmsted County in-custody lookup for its own arrestees — the county is transparent about where its prisoners are held, even though it holds none itself.
- 'contracts' scored 'no': no rate or contract document for the Dodge–Olmsted boarding arrangement was found on Dodge County's own site.
- Dodge County having no facility on the DOC inspection index, combined with its own site's confirmation of the Olmsted County arrangement, is treated as a finding (per instructions), not a gap.
- Not found — a Board of Commissioners page was not located within the search/fetch budget
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Dodge County and what it costs the people who live here. Nationally, almost 77% of the people who died in local jails in 2019 had not been convicted of anything, and suicide was the leading single cause of those deaths (Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Local Jails, 2000–2019).
How much is your sheriff — and your judge — costing you?
Your VOTE is POWERFUL.
The sheriff who runs this jail is elected. So are the commissioners who pay for it.
Names verified 2026-09-18 · dollars and outcomes still being gathered